US says Seoul anti-missile defence system not negotiable

The planned US deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system in South Korea is not negotiable as part of efforts to agree new United Nations sanctions on North Korea after its fifth nuclear test, but Washington is confident new tougher steps will be agreed before long, the senior US diplomat for Asia said on Friday.

China, whose full backing is widely seen as crucial for sanctions on North Korea to be effective, is strongly opposed to the deployment of the THAAD system and some experts have argued it should be part of talks on new UN measures.

But asked whether THAAD was negotiable, Daniel Russel, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asia, referred to a USSouth Korean agreement on the deployment.

“No. The two countries have made a decision,” he told Reuters.

Discussions are currently under way on a possible new UN sanctions resolution on North Korea after it conducted its fifth and largest nuclear test on September 9.